Tire smashes into minivan on freeway

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Courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol

Tire smashes into minivan on freeway

Courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol

SOUTH SALT LAKE — A West Jordan couple and their two children were sent to area hospitals after a fifth-wheel trailer tire smashed into the windshield of their minivan while traveling north on Interstate Highway 15 Sunday morning, Utah Highway Patrol officials said.

An Idaho couple in a pickup hauling a fifth-wheel trailer was traveling south on I-15 when the trailer lost its tire in North Salt Lake around mile marker 311. The tire bounced over six-foot tall concrete barrier and smashed into the windshield of the minivan, troopers said. The Idaho couple reportedly continued driving, unaware they had lost a tire.

The couple in the minivan was transported to the University of Utah Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. Their daughters, ages 7 and 11, were taken to Primary Children’s Hospital also with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Preliminary investigation shows the tire fell off due to improper tightening of the lug nuts, troopers said. The accident is still under investigation.